The Principles to Guide Foundation Skills Assessment, developed under the National Foundation Skills Strategy 2025–2035, provide good practice guidance to support a nationally consistent approach to assessing prospective learners’ foundation skills prior to enrolment in training.
The principles are designed to be used flexibly across a range of settings including adult and community education (ACE) and vocational education and training (VET) settings and can be applied to different types of foundation skills assessments, including identifying learners’ foundation skills capabilities, suitability for training, and support needs. The principles are intended to promote good practice and do not replace existing assessment processes or regulatory requirements.
The 5 principles are:
- Learner-centred: the assessment is learner-centred, designed to accommodate the diversity of learner needs and foster a positive experience.
- Valid: the assessment accurately measures learners’ foundation skills and support needs.
- Fair: the assessment provides all learners with an equal opportunity, regardless of their background, to demonstrate their foundation skills.
- Conducted by skilled assessors: the assessment is undertaken by appropriately skilled assessors, who have relevant qualifications, experience and knowledge for the context in which they are assessing.
- Reliable: the assessment produces consistent results over time and across different groups of learners.
The resource includes examples for each principle to help assessors apply them in practice.
For more information, visit Principles to Guide Foundation Skills Assessment.
Discover the National Foundation Skills Strategy 2025-2035.